Jake Finch Dashes to Five Flags Victory Lane in Allen Turner Opener

Jake Finch goes for a second straight Talladega Superspeedway win in the ARCA Menards Series on Saturday. First, he paid a visit to Five Flags Speedway to win the Allen Turner Pro Late Model Series season opener at the Pensacola, Florida half-mile.

The Lynn Haven, Florida driver missed practice at Five Flags, as he was taking part in ARCA Menards Series practice at Talladega. However, he arrived in time for qualifying, clocking in eighth-fastest while Cole Williams set quick time.

Williams proved to be Finch's strongest competition, but Finch wrestled the lead away on lap 73 of the 100-lap contest before taking the checkered flag 1.4 seconds ahead of Dustin Smith.

That gives Finch the first win of the year on the Road to the Allen Turner Snowflake 100, the marquee Pro Late Model contest on the eve of the Snowball Derby each year at Five Flags. It also adds to his collection of Pro Late Model wins since partnering with Ronnie Sanders Racing one year ago.

"It's super cool to be able to come here tonight and be able to run this 18 car," said Finch. "Obviously, it was pretty good, so excited for how it turned out."

Colin Allman, also competing in Friday's Allen Turner Pro Late Model Series event, turned laps in the Ronnie Sanders No. 18 during practice. Finch thanked Allman for his assistance as he prepared his Venturini Motorsports No. 25 at Talladega.

"I appreciated Colin helping out. Just had a really good race car, obviously. Had a good car at Talladega, too, so hopefully we can get the job done there tomorrow as well."

"We only got to make a few laps and get it ready for tomorrow. We roll off sixth, but hopefully we can get it done like last year."

One year ago, Finch led every lap of the ARCA Menards Series event at Talladega. While he doesn't suspect a repeat of that feat is in the cards from the third row, he hopes to be leading the field at day's end on Saturday.

"I don't know about leading every lap tomorrow. That's an anomaly for sure. We're excited to get there tomorrow, and I just want to lead the last one."

While Finch is headed to Talladega Superspeedway, many of Friday's racers will head to Mobile International Speedway for the second leg of a Gulf Coast Doubleheader weekend. Among those are Friday's runner-up finisher, Dustin Smith, who was pleased to start his weekend with a second-place effort.

"I can't do it without all these guys behind me," said Smith. "Especially my dad, all my sponsors, SA Recycling, Johnny's RV, Smith Scrap & Salvage. We had a pretty good car tonight. It just got a little tight there at the end.

"We had a good night tonight. Looking forward to tomorrow night at Mobile International Speedway."

John Bolen drove to a podium finish after some early issues and starting the race with an ill-handling race car. Determination was the decidiing factor for the Alabama 200 winner and his team.

"I've got to thank all my guys, Tony Eury, Sr. and all my guys that kept working on it. They didn't give up. I kept telling them we needed more, and every time we got lucky and had all those cautions in a row. They made the right adjustments. We need a little bit more, I was running them down at the end and ran out of time. A good race overall for where we thought we'd be, and we made the most of it."

Fans can watch Saturday's Pro Late Model race at Mobile International Speedway on RacingAmerica.TV. Click here to subscribe and watch Saturday's event.

Racing returns to Five Flags Speedway on May 9, headlined by the Modifieds of Mayhem Tour. Outlaws, Pure Stocks, Crown Stocks and the Allison Legacy Series join the ground-pounding Modifieds that evening.

-Photo credit: Will Bellamy

Allen Turner Pro Late Model Series #1 Unofficial Results